Before going farther, it will be well to inquire what is intended by the "precinct of the University." There appears to have been some amount of uncertainty as to the radius included. In 1444 Henry VI. granted authority to the Chancellor to banish any contumacious person from the precinct of the University, which was taken to mean a circuit of twelve miles. On the other hand, on March 17, 1458, David Ap-Thomas swore on the Holy Gospels that he would keep the peace towards the members of the University, would inform the authorities of any plot against them which might come to his knowledge, would not assist in rescuing Richard Lude from prison, and would leave Oxford on the following day, nor presume to come within ten miles of the University for twelve weeks.
The Bedels
Of all the persons named as of the Privilege the bedels, as the executive officers, most distinctly represent its character and extent. The office of bedel was, of course, not confined to the Universities. In London, for example, the wards had their bedels, who were sworn, inter alia, to suffer no persons of ill repute to dwell in the ward of which they were bedels, and to return good men upon inquests. They were also to have a good horn and loud sounding. At Oxford the bedels were bound to make summonses for scholars at their request, and to arrest wrong-doers. The latter duty was naturally attended with some peril; and in 1457, one Richard of the Castle, flying from the hands of Came, Bedel, with drawn dagger, because he refused to go to prison, was banished from the University. Fines also were levied by the bedels, and they played a conspicuous part in the ceremonies of Congregation and similar assemblies. As the position was liable to abuse, they were bound by certain restrictions. Thus, they were forbidden to ask or receive [extraordinary?] fees from inceptors[3] and to carry anything away with them from the feasts at inceptions. They were required to attend funerals, but might not ask for a share of the offerings, nor for any present from the executors of the dead. And they had to give up their maces at the first congregation after Michaelmas, but were eligible for reappointment.
The bedels were of two grades—higher and lower; and the superior bedels were bound by immemorial usage to provide the inferior bedels with board and lodging and ten shillings a year for shoes. In 1337 the latter, on resigning their office in congregation, according to custom, complained that the superior bedels had neglected to furnish them with board. Thereupon the University decreed that the inferior bedels should be granted the option of standing at meals with the superior or receiving a weekly allowance of sevenpence as compensation. This allowance was to be suspended during the absence from Oxford of any inferior bedel, whether occasioned by his own affairs or those of the University. The annual payment of ten shillings for shoes was confirmed. Failure to observe these regulations subjected superior bedels to the loss of their office when the time came for the maces to be resumed.
The question will naturally arise—From what source, or sources, did the superior bedels obtain the means not only to provide for their necessities, but also to feed, house, and, to some extent, clothe their hungry and dissatisfied dependents? Light is thrown upon this subject in a way which shows that the superior bedels themselves may not have been without a grievance. At any rate, about seventy years later—in 1411—an ordinance draws attention to omissions on the part of the students, evidently inconvenient at the time, in the following words:
"The charity of students has in these latter days grown cold, so that they no longer make collections for the Doctors and Masters of their several faculties, nor make due presents to the Bedels; therefore it is decreed that henceforth all scholars, on receiving notices from a Doctor, Master, or Bedel of their respective faculties shall pay regular contributions according to the ancient statutes on pain of losing the current year of their academical course, and of forfeiting their privilege; and all principals of halls, at the notice of the Doctors, Masters, or Bedels, shall within a month from the commencement of such collection, take care that the members of their societies contribute, and send in the names of those who fail to do so to the Chancellor under a penalty of twenty shillings: and every Doctor or Master shall pay the Bedel honestly within a month from the commencement of the collection."
From a notice of the year 1432 it transpires that the bedels received one-twelfth of all fines inflicted for misdemeanours; and, in 1434, prior to the admission of inceptors, the Chancellor announced that each inceptor would be required to pay the ordinary fee of thirty shillings and a pair of buckskin gloves for each bedel, or, in lieu of gloves, five shillings to be divided among the bedels. Two licentiates protested against such payment, stating that it was contrary to the statutes, whereupon an inquiry was held, by which it was established that these fees had been paid to the bedels from time immemorial and were therefore due.
The appointment of the bedels rested with the Regent Masters, and was one of their most jealously guarded prerogatives. Mention has been made of John Came, who for many years held the office of bedel. When he was elected, in 1433, by four Regent Masters and the two Proctors in congregation, an attempt was made by the Chancellor and the Doctors of the four faculties to substitute a nominee of their own, one Benedict Stokes, on the ground that they were the senior members of the University, and represented a majority of their faculties. Realizing that the supremacy of the Faculty of Arts was menaced, the Proctors resisted this claim and demanded the admission of Came, with the result that the Chancellor reluctantly gave way. An appeal was entered by Richard Cauntone, a doctor of laws, and the candidate, Benedict Stokes, but three days later was renounced by both of them as frivolous, and their cautions were forfeited. Even then the matter did not end. Two days afterwards, information came to the Proctors that one of the doctors had given his scholars to understand that the election would have been invalid but for a vote recorded by a doctor. Thereupon the Proctors, in order to settle the question once for all, summoned a congregation, by which it was determined that the phrase "major part" imported a numerical majority.
The election of bedels was conducted in the same way as that of the Chancellor. Every such election was preceded by three proclamations made within eight "legible" days after the office had become vacant.
The relations between the University and the Town will be dealt with presently. Here it may be noticed that the bedels exercised some control over the proceedings of the townsmen which concerned the interests of students. As an illustration, when the goods and chattels of Harry Keys, a scholar, which had been left in the house of Thomas Manciple, were "presyd" betwixt Thomas Smyth and Davy Dyker, the valuers were sworn before John Wykam, Bedel.